Pro Ligno (Dec 2018)
Thermal and Hydrothermal Stability of Hot-Melt Adhesive Compounds, Used to Adhere Plastic Edge Banding Materials to Particleboards
Abstract
Nowadays, most of the furniture constructive elements are made out of laminated particleboards whose edges are banded with plastic banding material. The edge banding process of furniture boards predominantly uses EVA hot-melt adhesives. The adhesives based on EVA hot-melts provide relatively low strength, thermo- and moisture resistance. Furniture is often exposed to environments of high temperature and humidity. These conditions often result in a decrease of the adhesion strength followed by the removing of the edge banding material. Therefore, the influence of high temperature, water and water-saturated vapors on the adhesive strength is important to be known. On the basis of this information, the objective of the current study was to investigate the influence of high temperature, water and water-saturated vapors on the adhesive strength of EVA-based adhesives, used to connect plastic banding material to particleboards. The following three experiments have been carried out: (i) one factorial experiment to measure the adhesion strength of the compounds after being soaked in water for 2 up to 58min, at 20°С; (ii) one factorial experiment to measure the adhesion strength of the compounds after hydrothermal treatment of the adhesives (2 to 20min duration of treatment); (iii) two factorial experiment to evaluate the thermal stability of the adhesives, measured at various temperatures of convective heating in air (50, 100 and 150°С) and treatment durations (5, 20, 35min). The experimental data have been analyzed by regression analysis and a mathematical equation, describing the relationship between the different factors, and the adhesion strength of the adhesives has been derived. All the experiments were carried out with two edge banding materials: ABS with thickness of 2mm and PVC with thickness of 0.45mm. The influence of high temperature and water-saturated vapors on the adhesive strength of the tested compounds was assessed by the changes in the tensile strength of the adhesives, measured perpendicular to the edge surface. The obtained results were analyzed and graphically represented.
